Anastasia: the game Hou Yifan - Kateryna Lahno has finished. The Women's World Champion Hou Yifan lost her first game of the tournament. My first question is to Katya: you came for a round in a very good mood. You set yourself to fight today?

Kateryna: in principle I set myself to fight every round. On the other hand it is always a pleasure to play against the Women's World Champion. That is why I decided to start a big fight and I had a rather fighting opening. So, we had a very interesting game. Black made a mistake somewhere and maybe Yifan had lack in experience in these positions. But to my mind our game was correctly played. Most probably Black allowed some inaccuracy. But it is not clear when. At one point Black got bad position. Most probably after e4 and e5 it was not clear how Black could defend.

Anastasia: Yifan, were you surprised with the opening today or you prepared for it?

Yifan: I did not prepare this opening. I remember I was playing these openings before. I think after e5 the position was better for my opponent. She had a chance to attack my king because it was very weak. My pieces were not active. Maybe before that a plan with h4 g6 Ng4 was not very good...

Anna Muzychuk - Lufei Ruan

Anastasia: You played Spanish today but why did you avoid playing Berlin Wall endgame?

Lufei: I think women players don’t like to play that type of positions in general.

Anna: Yes, we prefer to keep Queens on the board until the end.

Lufei: The position is equal and should be ok for Black. Probably I made a mistake when I played e4, instead of this I should have played ef4 and then f5. I thought it was a drawish position and I don’t know why I played e4.

Anna: The Bg5 line in the opening is quiet rare but of course I’ve got nothing. Instead of playing Nc4 in the opening I was thinking to play Nh4 and of course there were some games with that line but I was afraid of Black’s long castling and some activity of their pieces. After we exchanged pieces on e4, it was intersting for Black to play Kd7 and to give the pawn on h7 if I play Rh4. But Black had Ke6, e4, Rd2 with some conter play. I also think that after f4 I had a little bit better position. If she took ef4 (as my opponent proposed) I would play Kf3. It looked drawish anyway but still I could set some problems for Black. When I had my knight on e6 I was happy that I was not going to lose in any lines anymore and I could just play this position without any risk.

Elina Danielian - Alisa Galliamova

Alisa: One does not usually play queen a3 in the opening, because it is considered that White have the initiative, but I wanted to fight playing Black and took a pawn. I thought I would let my opponent prove that she has real compensation, because anyway Black had rather strong position. It is just that at one moment I made a move Nh5. Of course, I saw the move Bg5, but somehow I decided that I would manage to do something, in fact I did not calculate the lines till the end and realized that Nh5 was a rough mistake. I should have played c5 and should have moved the rook; it was not that clear for White how to imrove their position and I could take knight h5 at any moment.

Elina: After a "long castle" and a draw I wanted to concentrate and play a normal game and I seem to have managed it today. We played a Cambridge Defense and Alisa accepted the pawn's sacrifice on a3. I played this line with Black pieces as well before, but I was afraid to take this pawn. I thought that White had a good compensation there: they had two bishops and a strong center. Then everything was going smoothly е4-е5, h4-h5 and happened naturally. I think that White had a good play in the center even without king's attack: castling, e4-e5, c4, Rd1, Qd3 and conversion of the knight on e4. The move knight h5 might have been a decisive mistake, but it is hard to advise anything to Black. The next move that I wanted to make was rook on g3 and it was not clear how to defend from Queen h6.

Nadezhda Kosintseva - Alexandra Kosteniuk

Anastasia: the game Nadezhda Kosintseva - Alexandra Kosteniuk has finished, White won. My first question is to Nadezhda: you sacrificed a piece, did you get enough compensation?

Nadezhda: I had to sacrifice a piece.. Truly speaking I underestimated the move f5. When I started calculating I did not like any variants. I thought that even compensation was not enough. To my mind Black should have played Ndf7, more precise move. After that move I did not see a way to develop my initiative.

Alexandra: yes, after that I should have played Qe6 I think. I was actually planning to play like this. It came to my mind: oh, here there is Qe6, but Re6 and Rd8 also unclear... I thought White could play a5 at one point, Ba7. We would have had the same variation but Qc6 would have been stronger. But during the game when White did not chose a5, there was a question of one-two precise moves.

Nadezhda: why didn't you play Rb2, then Qc8 and Nd8?

Alexandra: Rb2, then Qc8? Yes, I was calculating this variant. Then Bf2 after that? Probably I should have played this line. Perhaps it should have been calculated more thoroughly, apparently I was not in time touble. But of course Rb6 is a very rough blunder. It seemed to me that White did not threaten anything even if it's turn to move. It seemed that even Qg6 f6 is not treatening. After her sacrifice I thought I had better position, I liked it. If white chose Ne3, white Bishop on g3 is not active. I mean that if I play Nh2, it seemed to me that I could have played Kg7 and then Ng4 f6. Then f5 is a bit dangerous, but I sacrifice a pawn only and my two Bishops are active. I mean that to my mind White had only one-two check threats and that's it. And I have a piece up. That is why I considered to play this line.

Nadezhda: I think Nh2 was not correct. Perhaps Ne3 should have been played.

Alexandra: yes, Ne3, Be3 perhaps. Also maybe a4 should have been played earlier. I don't know.

Nadezhda Kosintseva - Alexandra Kosteniuk

Anastasia: the game Nadezhda Kosintseva - Alexandra Kosteniuk has finished, White won. My first question is to Nadezhda: you sacrificed a piece, did you get enough compensation?

Nadezhda: I had to sacrifice a piece.. Truly speaking I underestimated the move f5. When I started calculating I did not like any variants. I thought that even compensation was not enough. To my mind Black should have played Ndf7, more precise move. After that move I did not see a way to develop my initiative.

Alexandra: yes, after that I should have played Qe6 I think. I was actually planning to play like this. It came to my mind: oh, here there is Qe6, but Re6 and Rd8 also unclear... I thought White could play a5 at one point, Ba7. We would have had the same variation but Qc6 would have been stronger. But during the game when White did not chose a5, there was a question of one-two precise moves.

Nadezhda: why didn't you play Rb2, then Qc8 and Nd8?

Alexandra: Rb2, then Qc8? Yes, I was calculating this variant. Then Bf2 after that? Probably I should have played this line. Perhaps it should have been calculated more thoroughly, apparently I was not in time touble. But of course Rb6 is a very rough blunder. It seemed to me that White did not threaten anythin even if we its there turn to move. it seemed that even Qg6 f6 is not treatening.After her sacrifice I thought I had better position, I liked it. If white chose Ne3, white Bishop on g3 is not active. I mean that if I play Nh2, it seemed to me that I could have played Kg7 and then Ng4 f6. Then f5 is a bit dangerous, but I sacrifice a pawn only and my two Bishops are active. I mean that to my mind White had only one-two check threats and that's it. And I have a piece up. That is why I considered to play this line.

Nadezhda: I think Nh2 was not correct. Perhaps Ne3 should have been played.

Alexandra: yes, Ne3, Be3 perhaps. Also maybe a4 should have been played earlier. I don't know.

Ekaterina Kovalevskaya - Humpy Koneru

Anastasia: the game Kovalevskaya - Koneru was finished with the victory of Ekaterina Kovalevskaya from Rostov-on-Don, playing white. Katya, please comment your game, which was finished very quickly.

Ekaterina: I was lucky today, I chose the right opening. Humpy decided to play Qb6 variation, but in principle I always liked these positions. Indeed White should play actively, and a3, b4 - is a standart plan. Fortunately I managed to fulfil it.

Anastasia: it means that today's victory is a result of the preparation to the game?

Ekaterina: Well, let's say it is a result of the preparation which I did 10 years ago. I just remembered that e4 is a move which I used to play before. I decided to come back to this move. Perhaps I had some pleasant memories: Humpy and I have a theoretical battle in this variation and before the score in that opening was in my favour. I am also delighted with the result, I gained one point by playing White finally (laughing).

Humpy: I was expecting this opening. I played several games in this position. After the opening it was unclear once I played h5, g5, before the position was very normal. I don't know maybe I missed some continuation later on after Bg4. I don't know, at some point I think I just misplayed it. Obviously Ncb4 was a blunder.

Tatiana Kosintseva - Antoanetta Stefanova

Anastasia: The game Tatiana Kosintseva - Antoanetta Stefanova is finished won by Tatiana playing white. Tanya, please your comments on the flow of the game.

Tatiana: Today we played Caro-Kann Defense, e5 line, i.e. a complicated manoeuvring position. Antoanetta applied the plan with Knight c8 and, as far as I remember, she has already played this variation and I think it was this year against Zawadzka. At one moment I improved my play and I thought that in general White had a better position, in this variation my knight was forwarded to c3, bishop f4, White are keeping the center. Then at some moment Black have played dc bc, I am not sure what was the estimation of the postion after the change of the structure, because I got the "b" file, the e4-square and it became easier to play. At the end she should not have played g5, Probably she should have kept her position. after that it is hard for Black to play, because the king is weak and there are always some threats over it and the queen's side is not well protected.

Antoanetta: I think I just played the whole game in a very bad way, I was changing my plans every two moves and it is not the way to play. Okey, from the opening I got a slightly worse position, however, I do not think it was that bad. Further on I was choosing some very dubious variations and, of course, what Tanya was saying is correct. Yes, maybe g5 was very risky, but also I think that Queen e8 was just a very bad move, because after c5 everything is falling apart. Maybe there was a better line and of course at the end I just blundered a rook, but in any case the position was either lost anyway or at least looked very bad, so I do not know. As I have already said, from the opening I could not stick to my plans, I mean, I chose one line and made a move in accordance with it and then changed for another one and played another move...

Anastasia: Maybe you just wanted to embarrass your opponent...

Antoanetta: No, actually, it is the best way to embarrass yourself...and I think the final result was logical.

The Ex-World Champion and FIDE Technical Director of Grand Prix in Rostov-on-Don Nona Gaprindashvili shared her impressions and prognosis on the tournament before the 9th round.

-I think that Hou Yifan is performing better than all the other participants and deserves to keep the first position at the tournament. There are three more rounds left and I do not think that there would be any big changes because the gap in scores is too large. She is followed by a number of chess players with almost the same number of points and every 0.5 will be decisive, therefore every game is decisive. For the participants this tournament will remain tense and the intrigue will reign in the atmosphere until the very last moment. Each chess player of FIDE Grand Prix is to play 4 tournaments of this series and the best results of three tournaments are taken into consideration, the second place is also a good result that is considered to be the beginning of future success. The fight will be very interesting. I want to underline that the World Champion is a brick. Lately we are used to the fact that those chess players who become world champions give up their positions right away. As for Hou Yifan, she is coming up to the moment when her performance in Grand Prix and World Championship Match give the chance for her to maintain her positions and continue in the same successful way.